


No Tree and a Merry Christmas

by Feneris



Category: Gravity Falls, Transcendence AU - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls), Burglars, But a Merry Christmas Regardless, Christmas, Fire, Fireplaces, Gen, No Christmas Tree, good company, good food, santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 00:49:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9048694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feneris/pseuds/Feneris
Summary: It was rare when David and Sarah found that they had Christmas to themselves. No guests coming over, no relatives to visit. They didn't even put up a tree. But, they found they didn't really need it. A good meal and each others good company, plus a fire in the fireplace makes for a merry Christmas either way.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like doing something for Christmas, so here it is. Just a short piece with David and Sarah that I whipped up in the middle of the night. Hope you get some enjoyment out of it and have a merry Christmas.

David and Sarah had installed the chimney out of a sense of romanticism. They didn’t need the heat, the entire house was literally heated by magic. Not to mention that neither David nor Sarah were particularly keen on the idea of cutting and chopping firewood. Still there was something very appealing about the idea of sitting around a warm fire on cold day, so, they had made sure to include a rustic stone fireplace in the blueprints when they had designed the house.

Of course, enchantments in the stone made sure there was no unpleasant drafts being blown in, and if anything that wasn’t Santa tried to climb down the chimney, they would regret it.

The fire itself was generated by magic. With all the magical energy flowing through Gravity Falls, they literally had magic to burn. 

Sarah curled up on the sofa and wrapped her hands around the mug of apple cider in her hands. An fluffy fleecy blanket was wrapped around her shoulders and Char was curled up in her lap. Warm, comfortable, and home. There were worse ways to spend a cold Christmas night.

The fire in the fireplace suddenly flickered purple and shot up the chimney with roar, before once again dying down to a calm and warm orange.

“Another rat?” David asked, leaning back out of the kitchen to peer into the living room. 

“Yup,” Sarah replied, taking a sip of her cider. “Third one this night.”

“Stupid animals. Think they would learn by now.” David muttered and returned to the kitchen. Sarah could hear him chopping up the peppers to add to the Chirstmas chili. Sarah could smell the apple pie baking in the oven and even though they had just gobbled down a huge Christmas dinner, Sarah could feel her mouth watering.

It was the first Christmas that Sarah could recall, where it was just the two of them. For all they loved their home, they rarely spent Christmas in it. Usually they were visiting relatives. Either David or Sarah’s parents, David’s sister and niece, Sarah’s brother and nephew, or one of their many cousins. And if they weren’t going to visit someone, than it was those relatives visiting them. This year, for various reasons, it hadn’t worked out. Both David and Sarah’s siblings were visiting their respective in-laws this year. David’s parents were attending a friend’s Christmas, and Sarah’s parents had retreated to Florida to spend the winter snorkeling and playing golf. 

It wasn’t that they were alone in Gravity Falls. David’s boss, Jack Heston, had invited David and Sarah to join him and his wife for Christmas eve dinner, and they were going to Isa and Greg’s place on boxing day to help them finish off the Christmas leftovers. But it was the first Christmas in a long time that they weren’t rushing off to visit relatives or entertaining guests.

As a result, they hadn’t even bothered to put up the Christmas tree or string even a centimeter of decorations. The house looked the same as it always had, yet Sarah found she didn’t miss it. It had actually been a nice change to simply not bother with anything. No hassle getting the decorations up, no looming need to take them down. They hadn’t even bothered getting presents for each other. Neither of them had any pressing need for any particular thing, and so they saved each other the stress and simply didn’t bother. They told everyone they were doing Christmas low-key this year, and that they weren’t going to be giving or expecting any presents this year. They stress and money they had saved was worth it in Sarah’s mind.

Of course, there were some traditions they didn’t dispense with. David had still taken the opportunity to make a large Christmas dinner. Or, at least, one that was large for just the two of them. They had gotten a duck from the Gravity Fall’s holiday market and a small ham. David had spent all afternoon preparing a feast, while Blink and Mooch had taken turns teleporting into the kitchen to steal scraps when David’s back was turned.

Fresh fruit from the World Tree, paprika duck, scalloped potatoes, mustard ham, steamed asparagus, and of course, enough gravy to drown a dog. It was delicious, as David’s meals usually were, though they would be eating leftovers for weeks afterwards. There were worse fates, Sarah supposed.

The flames in the fireplace let out a roar and shot up the chimney again. This time turning a deep red.

“Another rat?” David called out from the kitchen. 

“No,” Sarah called back. “Just a slenderman trying to slip in down the chimney.”

“Stupid thing,” David muttered. “You’d think even an eldritch abomination would be smarter than that. Every season this happens.” 

Of course, David had also insisted on baking an a pair of apple pies. One for them and one for Alcor. As far as he was concerned, pie was the perfect desert for any feast. They had the ice-cream waiting in their deep-freeze for the pies to come out of the oven. But while they were waiting, he was stewing up the Christmas chili.

You had to leave something out for Santa when he stopped by. David and Sarah had always left out a flask of rum and a sealed thermos of Christmas chili. When you were flying at high-altitudes in an open sleigh, you could always use something to warm you up. Plus a bag of apples in case he needed to bribe his reindeer into co-operating. They had told Santa he could use their front door if he wanted, instead of sliding down their chimney, but he had told them he preferred the chimney. Besides, going off the roof gave him better lift for the sleigh.

David looked up at a thump on their roof. “Is that him? It’s a little early isn’t it?”

A pillar of green fire shot up their chimney. There was a scream and David just caught sight of something on fire flying off into the night.

“Evidently not,” Sarah replied from her spot on the couch.

“Stupid burglars,” David muttered. “You’d think they’d learn that just because the chimney isn’t locked they can’t just let themselves in. Ah well.” He shrugged. “Gives more time for the chili to stew at least.” A crisp ding sounded from the kitchen. “Aaaand the pies are done,” he declared, and turned back to the kitchen. “Ice cream with your slice?” 

“Of course,” Sarah replied, watching as the flames turned purple and fried another rat.

David returned with two small plates and a cup of hot apple cider for himself. He handed Sarah her slice and settled himself down on the easy-chair.

“You know. Santa’s probably going to be annoyed we don’t have a tree up to put presents under, or stockings for him to fill,” David remarked, motioning to the empty spot where they usually set up the tree.

“Details,” Sarah shrugged. “We’re staying up anyway, so we might as well eliminate the middleman.”

“True,” David conceded, taking a sip of his cider.

“Besides,” Sarah continued. “We don’t need a tree to enjoy Christmas. We’ve got a warm fire, hot pie, and stomachs full of food. All the rest are just decorations.”

“Couldn’t have been better said.” David raised his mug in toast. “Merry Christmas Sarah.”

“And Merry Christmas to you back,” Sarah smiled, raising her mug to her housemate.

Outside the snow continued to fall, fat and white. Mango crawled out from behind the TV to claim a spot on David’s lap. The fire burned in the fireplace, occasionally incinerating an unwelcome intruder.

It was a fine Christmas indeed, they both agreed, as they settled into their spots in the front of the fire and waited for Santa to stop by.


End file.
